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National Park controversy

Plans to designate Mournes as a national park continue to cause controversy. The creation of a national park in Northern Ireland is still at least a couple of years away, according to the Environment Minister, Edwin Poots.
Northern Ireland is the only part of Great Britain and Ireland without a designated national park, and although Mr Poots agrees with the idea in principle, he did not favour a particular area. Instead, he said he was keen to hear the public´s view on the issue before making any decisions.

The most well-known national parks in Great Britain and Ireland include the Lake District in Cumbria, Snowdonia in Wales and the Cairngorms in Scotland and Connemara in the Irish Republic.

Plans to designate an area in the Mournes for a national park have caused controversy as supporters say the park, which would run from Carlingford Lough to Newcastle and Slieve Croob would boost tourism and create thousands of jobs.

Opponents on the other hand, many local to the area, fear it could price young people out of the property market and place tough restrictions on farming.

Mr Poots refuses to take part in the debate, but instead is welcoming ideas about where a national park in Northern Ireland should be. He says: “It will take a few years, involving detailed consultation, to finalise proposals, and to draft the necessary enabling legislation.”

“It will be some time before a park is designated.”

He went on to say that possible criteria could include a site´s ´outstanding importance, because of its natural heritage.´

Mr Poots said he believed national parks could bring ´prosperity" and ´a sense of wellbeing´.
But he did stress, that no statutory agency would be given the power to compulsorily seize land nor would there be any right to roam in national parks.

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